Firefighters Remove 15,000 Bees from Smith Park

Firefighters are often called to rescue kittens from trees, but recently Brentwood Fire and Rescue crews were needed to remove a swarm of honeybees from the city’s largest park, Smith Park located off Wilson Pike.

Brentwood Fire and Rescue Firefighter, Zach Scheitel and his daughter, were enjoying the afternoon at Smith Park on Tuesday April 17 when they encountered a huge swarm of bees by the new playground. He recognized them as honeybees and called fellow firefighter and beekeeper, Jay Williams and Adam Wyngaard. When they arrived, they located the swarm in a stump near the playground and set up a bee box to collect them. Williams said, “Since the hive was so close to the playground and for the safety of the children, we decided it would be best to relocate the hive. We captured nearly 15,000 bees, based on the bee box weighing about three pounds. While this swarm was removed, other bees will most likely return.”

In case you wondered, bee keeping is considered an agricultural use which requires a minimum of three acres to have a bee hive in a residential area, according to Section 10-4 (b) of the City of Brentwood City Code.

Neat Fact: 10% of the Brentwood Fire and Rescue Department are hobbyist beekeepers, which is a pretty rare statistic.